The Dubai Film Market (DFM) has confirmed several deals for film distribution and trade at the Dubai International Film Festival.

“The DFM is a natural progression towards establishing Dubai as the regional centre for discovery and trade of content that will benefit the rapidly evolving media industry, both in the Arab world and in emerging markets of Africa and Asia,” said Ziad Yaghi, director of the Film Market.

“The Dubai International Film Festival mandate has always been to showcase cinema from the Arab region and beyond. The film market provided the physical means for doing this, and the response from film professionals was overwhelmingly positive,” he noted.

The DFM operated on two fronts, the Cinetech and the Market Lounge. The Cinetech, a digital library of more than 200 films, represented 64 countries and 44 languages, while the Market Lounge  facilitated meetings between buyers and sellers.

Confirmed deals thus far include distribution of the South African feature “Mr.Bones 2” in the Middle East by Alchemy Films; acquisition of renowned animator Bill Plympton’s two latest 35 mm films: “Santa, the Fascist Years” and “Bill’s Mexican Standoff” by Shorts International; the launch of a large, Dubai-based CGI project; and progress on acquisitions of a large number of films by SBS in Australia.

Registration to the Dubai Film Market was open to all professional industry participants from around the world including buyers, sales agents, programmers, filmmakers and producers. –TradeArabia News Service